Respect

We all (would automatically) know how it feels to be seen for less than what we are. It is an unpleasant experience and it happens all too commonly - simply because people are lazy sometimes. Who can be bothered to take the time to know you truly? Very few. Explains why, you definitely will know who are your true back catchers when you fall. It is much easier to categorize using some kind of mental shorthand. The unpredictable and the new are ignored because too much effort is required to perceive them.

Now think the opposite.

Someone has taken the trouble to get to know us and to treat us for who we are. This person recognizes us as real and unique. We are no longer invisible but instead, an object of interest and appreciation. We feel we have value not just because we respond to a demand, but because of who we are. We are welcomed and seen for what we can become. 

This is respect - to look back, regard and consider.

Respect, like patience, may seem a hackneyed, old-fashioned virtue. Yet, if we think about it a moment, we find it holds a store of possibilities. The way we look at others is never neutral, for we transform what we see. The first time I saw my now-bestest-friend in the world was "hmm...she looks a lil snobby". haha! Don't worry, she knows :)

Our attention brings energy, while our lack of attention takes it away.

...and to think that this post cropped out because I realized (again) how much respect I have for someone :)